Garage door sticks when opening

If you have a garage door that sticks when opening it can be quite bothersome. Most customers we have helped with this problem thought their door was going to come off the tracks. It can definitely appear that way if it jerks open really hard. Good news when dealing with this is there really are only a few different reasons why this could happen. We will go into more detail below but you either had your garage door painted recently, your door is too tight at the top or your rollers and or your pulleys are worn out. 

I Recently Had My Garage Door Painted

Many times people have their garage doors painted when they have their house painted. Garage doors can be painted, no problem. There are two things though that can cause an issue. One, the painter uses the wrong kind of paint, and it is far too sticky. Two, they paint the door without enough care and paint the trim to the door. If your trim is painted to the door it will cause the paint to act as a glue and when you hit the button the door will have to unstick from the trim before opening. If this is the case for you tring cleaning the back side of the rubber on your thermal stop with a paint thinner of Goof Off. If this does not solve the problem you need to call the painter back out to address the problem.

I Have Not Had My Door Painted Recently

If you know sticky paint is not the issue, there could be a couple quick easy fixes. The first possibility is that the top section of your garage door is pushed too far in or the trim for the top of the door is too close to the door. In either case we need to simply adjust the top fixtures of the garage door to cure this problem. Your top fixtures have a small nut and bolt on them that allows for adjustment. You can easily take a 7/16 socket or wrench and loosen both top fixtures so the door pulls forward and simply tighten the nuts with the door in its new position. 

If adjusting the top section did not solve the problem then you may have bad rollers or pulleys. If you have a door with an extension spring system and the front 2 pulleys are so worn that they get stuck when trying to turn, your door will not move. If the rollers are bad the door will drag instead of roll and the door may get stuck. Running the door manually will give you a better idea which one could be the cause. Visually watch the pulleys as the door moves, if they stop turning they are the issue. If the door feels like it is dragging and very stiff it is most likely the rollers. 

If you believe it is parts such as the pulleys or the rollers, or you still are not sure, we recommend calling a professional out to inspect and fix your door for you, ignoring or putting off problems will only make them worse in the future.